George Mason in the News

Posted: April 15, 2005 at 1:00 am, Last Updated: November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

Following are excerpts from national news coverage George Mason received in the past week:

Monday, April 11, Time

Bye, Creatives

“Richard Florida is the pop economist people love to lionize or hate. Three years ago, the George Mason University professor (then at Carnegie Mellon) wrote a book christening the creative class: an expansive group of architects, engineers, musicians, nurses, and even lawyers who drive economic growth in today’s knowledge economy. Attract those workers, and companies will follow, argued Florida. Some cities, like Detroit and Cleveland, Ohio, took the theory to heart. In other circles, Florida was written off as a quack. (Consider the subtext: tax breaks to lure business are passe.)”

Thursday, April 14, the Washington Post

GMU Faculty Calls Patriot Act Threatening

“George Mason University’s faculty senate passed a resolution yesterday critical of the broad investigative powers granted to law enforcement agencies after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying they could have a chilling effect on academic freedom. In a statement that mirrors those supported by scholars at institutions including Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley, the professors said the wide latitude government agencies have in secretly reading e-mail or reviewing a person’s library selections could mute debate and research at all institutions of higher education. ‘The preservation of civil rights and liberties is essential to the well-being of a democratic society and an academic environment,’ the resolution reads. The governmental powers, particularly those set out in the USA Patriot Act, ‘threaten fundamental rights and liberties.’”

Thursday, April 14, the Wall Street Journal

“Helicopter Parents”—The Emotional Toll of Being Too Involved in Your Kid’s Life

“Parental over involvement has increased markedly during the past 20 years, says Peter N. Stearns, provost of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and author of a 2003 book, Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Child-Rearing in America. He cites a competitive frenzy over school success; guilt over mothers working, and growing parental distrust of schools and media as an influence on kids. While there are benefits, including parents’ spending more time with their kids, Dr. Stearns says, the emotional bottom line for parents isn’t pretty: Parental worry and dissatisfaction are up sharply, he says, based on his own study of parent polls, sociological research, and child-rearing materials.”

Thursday, April 14, the Washington Post

The Old Ballgame in a New City

“Spurred in part by the rise of federal contracting, the sectors of law, lobbying, entertainment, science, medicine, and technology have exploded throughout the region. The largest locally based biotechnology, telecommunications and government services employers—MedImmune, Nextel and GTSI, with combined revenue of more than $15 billion last year—did not exist in 1971. The federal government spent $42.2 billion on contracting in the region in 2003, according to Stephen S. Fuller, a regional economist at George Mason University—a figure 10 times the amount in 1980, the first year for which he has statistics.”